Visibility has always shaped reputation. The difference now is where that visibility happens. As search shifts toward AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity, the way people discover and evaluate businesses is changing fast.
But these AI tools use AI crawling—a process that decides which websites can be read and included in AI-generated results. Unlike Google, these systems don’t scan every page automatically. They only read content from sites that have given them permission.
That shift has introduced a new kind of optimization: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). It’s how your website stays visible when people use AI tools to search instead of Google.
For many businesses, that connection hasn’t been made yet.
Blogs, service pages, and resources that once supported strong SEO aren’t showing up in AI search at all. As a result, their websites are losing reach, credibility, and visibility in the very places people are now turning for answers.
When I talk with our team and clients about AI search visibility, I explain it like this:
Most legitimate AI companies now check whether they have permission to crawl your website before scanning it. That means you need to intentionally give them access through your site settings.
If that permission isn’t granted, your website content is skipped entirely. It’s not being read, indexed, or used in AI-generated summaries.
As Savannah Abney explained during our internal training, “They basically said, we’re going to ignore you unless you give us permission.”
That gap matters more than most business owners realize. If AI crawlers can’t access your site, your blogs, guides, and service pages are invisible in AI-driven search results. Even if your site ranks well on Google, it won’t appear in AI summaries or recommendations, no matter how much SEO work you’ve put in.
Addressing AI crawling permissions is part of staying findable online. Without it, your business gets left out of the next layer of search—what we now call GEO.
Every modern website needs a small file that tells AI crawlers what they’re allowed to read. It functions like your robots.txt file but is built specifically for large language models (LLMs).
You can generate this file in minutes using free online tools. Just select what content you want to allow or block, download the code, and upload it to your site’s root directory. From there, AI crawlers can access and index your content correctly, improving your AI search visibility.
And if your website runs on WordPress, it’s even easier.
As Xavier Emerson shared during our training, “If it’s a WordPress site and we’re using your SEO plugin, you can enable the LLM file option and customize it.”
For anyone using Yoast, this feature is already built in. Simply enable it and verify your settings.
Once your LLM permissions file is active, be sure to:
These small updates make it easier for both search engines and AI tools to crawl, index, and represent your business accurately online.
Visibility is what keeps your business relevant, but if AI isn’t able to access your content, your brand is getting left out of the results people are already using to find answers and make decisions.
Adding a permissions file and keeping your website structure organized takes time, but it’s worth it if you want to continue to stay visible online. It’s how the work you’ve already published continues to reach the right people as search evolves.
If you’re ready to see how visible your brand really is, start with Breezy’s Reputation Score Assessment.
It’s a simple way to understand where your website stands and what to improve so your business keeps showing up where people are looking.
Steve Soto is a seasoned CTO and Partner at The Breezy Company. With deep expertise in software architecture and executive-level product development, he empowers teams to scale with smart, secure digital systems.
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